Phantom Wallet Launches on Base Blockchain

Phantom Wallet has officially expanded its multi-chain capabilities by integrating with Base, the Ethereum Layer-2 network developed by Coinbase. This integration, which went live on November 25, 2024, follows the wallet’s earlier beta launch for Base and marks a key step in Phantom’s plans to broaden its ecosystem support.

Base is currently the largest Layer-2 blockchain by total value locked (TVL) and the sixth largest blockchain overall, making it a significant addition to Phantom’s offerings. With this expansion, Phantom Wallet users can now engage directly with the Base ecosystem. This includes the ability to buy Ether and USDC on Base, as well as swap tokens across multiple blockchains, including Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, using traditional payment methods such as debit/credit cards, Apple Pay, or Coinbase.

Additionally, users will be able to interact with decentralized applications (dApps) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) within the Base ecosystem, while benefiting from enhanced security features. Phantom Wallet is integrating support for Ledger hardware devices, automatic spam detection for malicious NFTs and tokens, and transaction simulation to flag suspicious activities. These features aim to improve the user experience and enhance protection, especially as the platform continues to grow.

This move comes shortly after Phantom Wallet’s acquisition of Blowfish, a Web3 security platform. The acquisition is designed to bolster Phantom’s defenses against harmful dApps and vulnerabilities, leveraging Blowfish’s technology that has successfully protected over 2.8 million scams. These improvements to Phantom’s security features are particularly timely as the platform experiences heightened demand, largely driven by the ongoing memecoin craze, which has seen retail investors flock to decentralized platforms for trading.

However, Phantom Wallet has encountered some technical issues recently. For example, on November 13, a software update caused a bug for some iOS users, locking them out of their accounts. This glitch led to wallet resets and prompted users to re-enter their recovery phrases, with some reporting significant losses, including one individual who claimed to have lost $600,000. Despite these hiccups, Phantom has seen a surge in popularity, even surpassing Coinbase in the U.S. App Store rankings, as more users seek decentralized alternatives to centralized exchanges.

Phantom’s integration with Base, coupled with the growing interest in platforms like Clanker—an AI-powered bot for deploying memecoins on Base—could potentially fuel a new wave of Ethereum-based memecoin mania. Ryan Sean Adams, co-founder of Bankless, suggested that this could lead to a significant surge in memecoin activity within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Overall, Phantom’s move to integrate with Base highlights its commitment to expanding its multi-chain presence and bolstering its security infrastructure, positioning the wallet to be a key player in the rapidly evolving decentralized finance (DeFi) and memecoin markets.